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OSCE: Media Pluralism Further Endangered in Kazakhstan

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has condemned as “drastic and disproportionate” an injunction by a court in Kazakhstan effectively shutting down a weekly magazine.

The OSCE said Wednesday that the Almaty district court’s order to stop the distribution and publication of the independent magazine ADAMbol, and to confiscate all printed copies of the magazine, threatens free media in Kazakhstan and contributes to an atmosphere of fear for members of the media.

The court injunction followed a claim from Almaty City’s Department for Internal Policies that an article published by ADAMbol in August contained “extremist war propaganda.”

According to the OSCE, more than 30 media outlets have been closed since late 2013 with authorities citing administrative code violations or the publishing of extremist views as the reasons